


Home Light

by Allganne, SeoMad (Allganne)



Series: The Witch Heart [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst, Friends to Lovers, Illnesses, M/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 06:16:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19289887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allganne/pseuds/Allganne, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allganne/pseuds/SeoMad
Summary: Johnny and Taeyong have been a pair far longer than Yuta has been at White Stone. But now the Wall has taken the would-be Witch Guard and without meaning Taeyong is taking Doyoung.Which just won't stand.Except there is more at stake than Yuta's wounded pride or his jealousy.And the Witch of the Hearth is the one paying the price for everyones blindness.





	Home Light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [taeyongseo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/taeyongseo/gifts).



> This little fic is set about six months after Johnny leaves for the Wall.

Doyoung's rooms are empty again.

 

He wasn't at dinner and Yuta knows that there really is only one place he'll be.

But he tries anyway, wandering up the private wing towards a door that is dark and cold, even the hearth unlit and Yuta takes a moment to valiantly ignore the lick of disappointment he feels as he turns his back on Doyoung's rooms and heads further up the hallway.

 

It's obvious right away he's in the right spot from the golden hue under the door.

 

There's no quiet murmuring to be heard, most of them have protection runes on their rooms and locks on the doors and Taeyong is no different. But when Yuta knocks and the door opens for him without resistance he can’t help but frown; Shindong and Siwon would have a field day knowing Taeyong kept his door unlocked.

 

Not that it really matters tonight. Not when their little storm has Doyoung watching over him.

 

They're laid out on the chaise by the fire as Yuta has found them many times before. Taeyong curled in on himself in Doyoungs lap while Doie strokes his hair.

 

It's a soft scene, quiet and otherwise serene if there wasn't a tension in Doyoung’s shoulders and an angry moue about his mouth.

 

"I couldn't find you at dinner," Yuta says as explanation as he crosses the room, trying valiantly to ignore the whispering jealousy of his stars.

 

Taeyong is asleep, is worn out and drawn too thin under his blanket.

He is brittle without Johnny. Quieter, more withdrawn.

 

They were impossible together, always a pair, spreading joy as they went. Encouraging each other terribly, whether in Taeyong’s spellcasting or Johnny’s showing off.

 

Without Johnny the castle is quieter, more sombre. There are too many of the young and vibrant gone, too many wayward soldiers taking up the call and marching to war. Johnny is not the only one missing but it seems in the castle he is the one missed most.

 

It would he fine, Yuta thinks quietly, he could perhaps be more at ease if it Johnny’s conscription wasn’t also making things difficult in the Heart itself.

 

They are drawing more spells through the Heart Stone these days, spells that require more and more of them to bolster the magic on the front lines. They are spells that leave Yuta exhausted whether they work or not and the witchlings have been banned completely from joining in; too young and untested to handle the strain.

 

Taeyong is making things worse, dropping spells like his hands won't stop shaking.

He had even lost the threads that morning. Had been leading the power from the Heart Stone and had fumbled, his magic twisting out of his hold and making the entire spell collapse. The magical backlash had been strong and Donghae had been forced to carry Taeyong back upstairs, the witch unable to stand no matter how hard he tried.

 

Doyoung chasing after him without a backwards glance.

 

And that is the real problem, Yuta knows. It's not the fact that Yongie is struggling, it's that Yuta is losing priority in the one persons attention he wants most.

 

It's getting harder, Yuta reasons, to ignore his growing jealousy.

 

He wants Doyoung for himself. Wants the tenderness Doie shows Taeyong without reason _entirely_ to himself and he hates that too.

 

“Are you okay?” he asks Doyoung who flinches like he had zoned out and Yuta has shattered the spell. The smile he offers is weak, it wobbles like he is biting the inside of his cheek and fighting to save face.

 

"I think he did something," Doyoung croaks after a moment and when Yuta looks down Doyoung’s hand is trembling where he's stroking down Taeyong’s back.

 

"I think he did something,” he repeats, softer, like he’s only saying it to himself.

 

Yuta opens his mouth to ask what, to ask _why_ and Doie beats him to it.

 

“His magic is so unstable, Yuta. Its burning him from the inside out.”

 

“He’s stronger than that.”

 

“I don’t think he is. Not anymore. He needs help or he’s going to… He’s. There’s something wrong..”

 

"Does Johnny know?" Yuta asks tentatively. Johnny, who has been Taeyong’s Witch Guard since they were children living inside each others’ pocket. There had never been anyone else even considered. Taeyong and Johnny had approval for their Binding since they were fifteen, held back from the spell by Heechul and common sense.

 

Without Johnny to help Taeyong with the burden a new Guard needs to be chosen quickly or Doyoung’s fears might come true. But it shouldn’t come to that. Yuta has more faith in Taeyong’s resilience than Doyoung, it seems.

 

"Heechul has given me permission to go to the Wall. To see him. I haven't told Taeyong."

 

"Why not?” Yuta asks carefully and Doyoung looks down at Taeyong, his expression flickering sadly.

 

"Johnny hasn't contacted him."

 

Yuta startles.

 

That’s a surprise.

 

"It's been six _months -_ "

 

“Taeyong disappeared in the middle of the night. Last week. Something went wrong. It’s gotten worse since then. His control. Something happened and I need to find out what."

 

"I’ll come. I'll help,” Yuta says and the look Doyoung shoots him is heart wrenching and Yuta wilts before Doyoung even says a word.

 

"You can’t. I need you here. You're the only one I know who can take care of him properly."

"Taeil can look after him,” he says, standing up, ready to march back and pack a bag right then and there because he wasn’t going to let Doyoung run off to the wall on his own.  

 

"Not like that." Doyoung says softly, a quiet horrible admission of guilt and something in Yuta jolts. He’s frozen where he’s standing, staring down at Doyoung with a horrible dawning fear spreading through him like something molten.

 

“Doyoung - “ Yuta croaks, wanting nothing more right then than for Doyoung to shut _up._

 

"You're the only one powerful enough to cut him off if he gets too caught up.”

 

Yuta scowls.

“You know what cutting people off like that can do - the toll it has when you - “

 

“Yuta,” Doyoung says quietly, cutting him off and he falls quiet.

 

“Yuta you’re the only one powerful enough to _stop him_.”

 

Yuta stops, caught in a double take as he finally realises what Doyoung means. What he wants Yuta to do.

He shakes his head.

 

“No. No, i won’t. You can’t ask me to do that.”

 

“Yuta - “

 

“You know what you’re asking. It won’t come to that. You _know him_ , you know Taeyong won’t hurt anyone.”

“Not yet. But there’s something _wrong._  He’s losing control and if I can’t figure out why then we need to know if we’re capable of stopping it. Stopping _him._ He’s too powerful. He’s too powerful and he’s losing control and thats a recipe for disaster. Heechul knows it. Leeteuk knows it but they can’t stop him. You can.”

 

“You can too!”

“And I will. I know what I have to do but I need you as well. I need to know if i’m not there then you can stop him.”

 

"Why me? What about Taemin? Jinki?"

 

"They’re not always here. You are."

 

“What about Ten?”

Some of the anger drains out of Doyoung like it was never there.

 

‘You know he can’t do it. He _won’t_  do it.”

 

And that stops him still because Yuta knows Doyoung is right. Tennie, their Tennie, the little Witch of Renewal will forever be the last of them to turn his own magic against one of his brothers. He fears it too much and loves them too deeply to ever draw death down upon them.

 

"Doyoungie, I -"

 

Doyoung fixes him with a pointed stare and Yutas stars sing at the attention despite the fact Yuta despises what Doyoung is asking of him. He has never hated anyone quite so much as he hates Doyoung right then.

 

"You're the only one I know can do it. Everyone else loves him too much."

 

"I love him too," he croaks, looking down at the shadow of his friend too exhausted to even wake up to Yuta’s shouting. And perhaps Doyoung is right, perhaps something is far more wrong than Yuta has allowed himself to notice.

 

He might See things others don’t, he might listen to the stars but there are things he is blind to. Things he _allows_ himself to be blind to, and he cannot any longer.

It’s time to see the light again.

 

"You’ll do it because you’re the only one of us who knows what it’s like to be afraid of him.”

 

And there it is. There is the one vulnerability Yuta refuses to acknowledge and Doyoung knows he has pressed too far by the way he retreats away and it's only when he does that Yuta realises how much Doyoung has learnt towards him, how much of him had been reaching for Yuta while he stood just out of reach.

 

"I wouldn't ask unless I have to, Yuta. I love him, and I am plotting his death like a chess game and I despite myself for it. I have been tearing my brain apart for hours. I can't ask anyone else. It has to be you. He'll let you. If you need to do it, he'll let you because he loves us."

 

"I know."

 

"I have to take care of the Heart, Yuta. I protect everyone here. Even Taeyong. Especially Taeyong,” Doyoung says desperately, like he is trying to convince himself as well.

 

Yuta picks up Doyoung’s empty hand, the one not resting carefully along Taeyongs neck and kisses it gently.

 

"Just… give me a day," he promises and Doyoung nods, weakly.

 

He doesn’t follow, he doesn’t call out. Doyoung let's him go.

 

And his seat is empty at breakfast the next morning because Yuta asked for time.

 

And time is what Doyoung gives.

 

So Yuta uses it to think. He can do nothing _but_ think.

 

Because he has lived half his life in White Stone. He knows what it costs to live here, to grow up here.

 

What they mean to each other.

 

Taeyong is testament to that both in himself and with Johnny because the only person who has been here longer than Doyoung and Taeyong, has been been Taeyong and Johnny.

 

Yuta had been the fourth of them to arrive.

 

He remembers very little of the actual storm that left him an orphan, a child washed up on the beach amongst the debris of a trading ship from the south east.

 

Things had moved too quickly, too powerfully for him to grasp and time has stretched long enough he has finally almost forgotten the burning feeling of trying to breathe and only finding water in his lungs.

 

Back then the fear had been ever-present.

 

He had been taken to an orphanage in the beginning, but had been there only weeks before he ended up at White Stone, a witchling too powerful for the hedgewitches to care for. He had been scattering stars everywhere, spilling secrets not meant to be shared, a swirling vortex of untamed power in the body of a child lost at sea.

 

He had known enough of the language through his family's trade routes to not be rendered entirely mute, but it meant little against the weight of being so alone somewhere strange.

 

What had been worse were the offers to send him home, to the Kingdom where his mother and father were born.

 

He had been too afraid of the open water to leave, of the storms that ravaged the ship he called home and turned her into kindling.

 

He had been too afraid of the unknown and the hedgewitches had been kind and he had understood most of what they were saying to begin with. But nobody seemed to like what he wanted to tell _them_. Over time the Hedgewitches had looked at him warily, with a tension in their spines that never let him relax.

 

His dreams had only gotten worse and when he tried to tell them, they didn't like what he had to say, what the stars whispered to him, what he saw that nobody else did.

 

So he had stayed, but only for as long as they had to keep him.

Which turned out to only be as long as it took for a Witch to come through the village along the western road.

 

Yunho had been a Witch Prince back then, on his way through the border towns surveying the Heart Stones along the waterfront with a little Witch in his wake. Junmyeon following the would-be King to keep the seas calm and the rain at bay while Yunho worked.

 

Yunho had visited the orphanage to talk with the Hedgewitches as he did in each town he passed through, and Yuta had caught his eye, lurking around the corners of every room with the only other boy who would talk to him.

 

He’d been packed up for White Stone that very same day.

 

White Stone had been a very different place.

 

There had been an immediate formality that Yuta had been entirely alien to. His family had been seafarers and while he had appreciated the pretty clothes he hated being kept indoors.

 

Heechul also liked to keep the Witchlings separate for a time while he discovered their initial powers, but it hadn’t taken long before Taeyong had been let loose.

Because Taeyong was the darling of the Witch Heart.

 

They had been eleven years old respectively and it had been exciting, to begin with, learning he had not only one same age friend, but _two_ and both of them somehow eager to talk to him.

 

Taeyong had been small and sort of dumpy, with large round cheeks and a timid smile and Johnny had been tall for his age and excitable.

 

They had shown him around with a tangible excitement Yuta had found confusing, even worse had been the awe when they talked of magic. The amazement as he showed them his stars and pointed out their counterparts in the sky above them.

 

For the first time Yuta had felt happiness again, he had felt a place for himself, a home.

There were others like him, other children. Children like _Taeyong_ who carried magic with him everywhere, just like Yuta, except no one here was afraid of him. No adult was wary of what he had to say.

 

Instead they _indulged_ him, they cheered his little outbursts of magic, the little showers of sparks and harmless droplets of rain. They encouraged his small whirlwinds and taught him how to form little animals out of mist.

And they looked to Yuta with the same encouragement, the same joy.

 

And slowly, piece by piece, Yuta had relaxed into White Stone. He breathed out, allowed the tension to diminish and finally he had felt at ease, had felt happy.

 

Magic had become something to enjoy here, something to encourage and entice. It was beautiful and a strength, just as it had been sitting in his mother’s lap aboard a ship riding the horizon.

 

Yuta had been at White Stone almost a year before it happened, before Taeyong lost control for the first time.

 

It had been expected, really, or so Heechul had told him later. They were all growing, and so was their magic, Taeyong’s had simply grown too quickly all of a sudden for him to accommodate. Yuta had been like that too, when he had been at the orphanage, why he had started spilling starlight behind him wherever he went, something he had never done before the storm.

But while Yuta’s growth spurt had been harmless, _was_ harmless, Taeyong’s was not.

 

On that night, when Taeyong’s powers had slipped, the air had grown dark and cold incredibly quickly and Yuta had been alone in the gardens when the storm had rolled in.

 

Nobody had known where he was, and once his panic set in least of all himself. The winds had been strong, the rain thick and icy cold and Yuta had been stuck. Stuck inside a memory, stuck inside the garden while the storm had raged.

 

It had taken hours before someone had found him, before Heechul had realised he was one child down and where on earth Yuta could have possibly been hiding.

 

He had been hysterical when Heechul had finally carried him inside the safety of the castle, going from frozen in fear to screaming with it in the time it took his brain to realise he was finally out of the storm.

 

He had been sick for days, caught with a fever deep in his lungs that even Kyungsoo couldn’t clear and he had been _distraught_.

 

They were patient with him, careful and slow to help him process what the hedgewitches had not. His grief had been thick and cloying and Heechul had been so careful with him it had taken weeks before even Taeyong could find his way into Yuta’s rooms.

 

Taeyong, who had grown up in White Storm, been born in the Heart itself, people said. A child that everybody had a soft spot for, from the Princes to the bottommost of the castle staff.

 

It was their undoing, in the end, letting the little boy in to see his sick friend.

 

Taeyong had been sick himself, but he and Johnny both harboured an innate curiosity that had meant Taeyong knew it had been his storm that had hurt Yuta.

 

It took all of five minutes before he had started blubbering his apologies and Yuta had understood none of it until Taeyong showed him.

 

Showed him the little stormclouds he had learned to form between his cupped hands.

 

He doesn’t remember what happened next.

*

Doyoung is packing his bag when Yuta lets himself into the room

There's no need for much, he's not going long and anything heavy will just weigh him down. There is too much commotion along the road to the wall to need for weapons and Doyoung is far more dangerous than any heavy-bladed knife.

Besides, that is what the Witch Guard is for.

He needs to ask who is going with him, who has his back while Yuta cannot but the words catch in his throat as he watches Doyoung fuss.

"Did you sleep?" Doyoung asks because he knows him. He throws him a vague smile because he did but not well.

"A little," he says and Doyoung hums.

"Taeyong is doing better. He's up."

"I heard. The kids were smothering him at breakfast."

"When do you leave?"

"Dawn."

"Who's going with you?"

"Donghae. Hyukjae overheard me talking to Heechul."

Yuta sighs with relief.

"You'll listen to him, won't you Doyoungie?"

Doyoung huffs.

"So long as he makes sense."

Yuta gives him a small smile in return.

"I thought about what you asked," he says and watches how Doyoung tenses up.

"It's a lot to ask, Yuta, I know, buy -"

"I'll do it." He says cutting Doyoung off before he can bluster.

His eyes widen comically and Yutas heart quickens in his chest.

"I know how important it is. And you're right, I'm the only one who can do it."

Doyoung's whole body folds in on himself and Yuta dashes forward to pull him close.

"I'll take care of him, Doyoungie. And we'll help him together so neither of us have to ever do it."

Doyoung's breath hitches against Yutas neck and he pulls him even tighter, trying to hold in all the pieces of Doyoung that are crumbling.

All the heartbreak he's been using as kindling for the fire in his chest he keeps forever burning.

"We'll weather it together," he whispers, pressing a kiss to the crown of Doyoung's hair and breathes in the promise he makes.

Listens to his stars sing.

And grins as Doyoung thumps him in reprimand

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! 
> 
> I've been stuck in a little dungeon at work and have been taking prompts on my twitter and cc to stave off the boredom.  
> This was Carly's. Or what came of hers haha. 
> 
> I always like new friends so please hit me up!  
> MWAH
> 
> Twitter: @Captainjacq  
> Cc  
> https:curiouscat.me/captainjacq


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